Bike registration can help recovery

Despite offering a registration service for bicycles, very few of the bikes that end up in the McPherson Police Department pen have been through the process.

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By Jeremy WebsterStaff Writer

McPhersonSentinel - McPherson, KS

By Jeremy WebsterStaff Writer

Posted Oct. 2, 2013 at 11:53 AM

By Jeremy WebsterStaff Writer
Posted Oct. 2, 2013 at 11:53 AM

Despite offering a registration service for bicycles, very few of the bikes that end up in the McPherson Police Department pen have been through the process.

Unless the serial number was kept by the original owner, this can make it virtually impossible for the police to recognize a bike is your bicycle should it end up in their pen, McPherson Police Detective Stacy Snyder said.

“My biggest recommendation is for you to register your bike,” Snyder said. “It doesn’t always work, and some of the bikes are obviously parted out, but if the bike comes in, even if our tag is peeled off, we’ll still have the serial number on record.”

A person can register a bicycle with the police department by filling out two simple information cards at the Law Enforcement Center and pay a $1 fee, which pays for an aluminum identification tag sticker to put on the bicycle.

Snyder said that anyone with the serial number and general information can come register a bicycle, but the department prefers the bike to be physically brought so officers can get a look at it and record the serial number and other information themselves.

“This program’s been around for a long time,” Snyder said, “but it just doesn’t get used very much. If nothing else, though, I wish people would come check in the bike pen if their bike’s stolen.”